Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
High school is teaching you the foundational elements required for further study... not preparing you for college.
If the goal of high school is to teach the foundational elements required for further study, how is that not preparation for college (which is further study, lol)? To the contrary, high school does prepare one for college/acceptance (if they choose the associated path) i.e. foreign language, AP/IB, additional math/science (beyond the standard requirement) and so on.
OP - since your son is relatively young, his focus shouldn't be on a favorite subject as he is going to need to do well in high-school, as a whole, in order to advance/excel (no matter what major he ultimately chooses). That said, I don't know if that's you - or him; but either way, encourage a well-rounded education at this point. It's high school.
Some people may again call this being presumptive, but I think yes there are many jobs that pay equally well if not better and are more enjoyable than plumber. I worked with quite a few plumbers; I know what they do. A few had to fixed clogged toilets. Most plumbers I don't are not thrilled about the job detail, but are attracted by the money.
If my kids wants to be a plumber that is OK. I just think it should at least come from an informed decision.
That just proved my point. The plumbers you know went into it for the money, not because they actually wanted to do the job. I have a doctor friend who went into that field for the money, which he's finally making, but he's not that happy cause he doesn't actually like the job.
The point was, you were asked if he "wanted" to become a plumber, would you have a problem with that, and you initially said you would. You're now saying you wouldn't, but please don't make your kid feel like he's only worth anything if he gets a job with a sophisticated title. You'll lose your kid.
As for jobs, the best thing is to find what you want to do that pays you well. Who cares what it is, or if the title is prestigious enough.
Keep in mind that a favorite subject doesn't mean that's what the kid wants to do. It just happens to be his favorite subject. My favorite subject in school was English - involving reading and creative writing, but that didn't mean I wanted to be an author.
Your kid will be fine. Relax. If he comes to you and says, "I want to be a high school history teacher" - welp, he's going to be poor, but if he's happy, then support that. It's not about you, it's about him.
If the goal of high school is to teach the foundational elements required for further study, how is that not preparation for college (which is further study, lol)? To the contrary, high school does prepare one for college/acceptance (if they choose the associated path) i.e. foreign language, AP/IB, additional math/science (beyond the standard requirement) and so on.
OP - since your son is relatively young, his focus shouldn't be on a favorite subject as he is going to need to do well in high-school, as a whole, in order to advance/excel (no matter what major he ultimately chooses). That said, I don't know if that's you - or him; but either way, encourage a well-rounded education at this point. It's high school.
Check out post 102. That poster said he accidentally typed "college" instead of "career".
Yep, time to have The Talk: If you can do what you love for a living, you'll never work a day in your life.
Problem is - that road is reserved for very few folks. I would love to tackle a few of my hobbies as a college subject too - but it's just not sensible. We don't always get to do what we want.
History - as a profession - has a limited field, mainly of academia. And we're talking about a clever mind and a Phd. Is that something in the future? If not - if you're not willing to make that kind of investment - you probably will just be paying tuition to learn more about a hobby - a thing you have an interest in, but can't earn money with it.
With that in mind - you can always recommend History as a full-time hobby - along with a career in law.
I don't want to pigeon hole anyone with this statement - circumstances vary - but this is how it starts, with someone who went to college, but cannot find a job, or cannot get out from under student loans - they chose a hobby instead of a career. Very - few - get ahead that way. Most folks suffer with a job they tolerate, while using that money to finance their hobby. To EXPECT a highly enjoyable and lucrative career - being highly successful at a thing you love - is a lofty goal, but needs a backup plan. rarely happens.
Yep, time to have The Talk: If you can do what you love for a living, you'll never work a day in your life.
Problem is - that road is reserved for very few folks. I would love to tackle a few of my hobbies as a college subject too - but it's just not sensible. We don't always get to do what we want.
History - as a profession - has a limited field, mainly of academia. And we're talking about a clever mind and a Phd. Is that something in the future? If not - if you're not willing to make that kind of investment - you probably will just be paying tuition to learn more about a hobby - a thing you have an interest in, but can't earn money with it.
With that in mind - you can always recommend History as a full-time hobby - along with a career in law.
I don't want to pigeon hole anyone with this statement - circumstances vary - but this is how it starts, with someone who went to college, but cannot find a job, or cannot get out from under student loans - they chose a hobby instead of a career. Very - few - get ahead that way. Most folks suffer with a job they tolerate, while using that money to finance their hobby. To EXPECT a highly enjoyable and lucrative career - being highly successful at a thing you love - is a lofty goal, but needs a backup plan. rarely happens.
Cool, but completely unrelated to the OP's post.
His kid is 14. A high-school freshman.
And he's only said that he's interested in history. For a 14 year old kid to express an interest in history I think portends good things. Better things than if he was just moping around interested in nothing except maybe gaming or something.
Yep, time to have The Talk: If you can do what you love for a living, you'll never work a day in your life.
Problem is - that road is reserved for very few folks. I would love to tackle a few of my hobbies as a college subject too - but it's just not sensible. We don't always get to do what we want.
History - as a profession - has a limited field, mainly of academia. And we're talking about a clever mind and a Phd. Is that something in the future? If not - if you're not willing to make that kind of investment - you probably will just be paying tuition to learn more about a hobby - a thing you have an interest in, but can't earn money with it.
With that in mind - you can always recommend History as a full-time hobby - along with a career in law.
I don't want to pigeon hole anyone with this statement - circumstances vary - but this is how it starts, with someone who went to college, but cannot find a job, or cannot get out from under student loans - they chose a hobby instead of a career. Very - few - get ahead that way. Most folks suffer with a job they tolerate, while using that money to finance their hobby. To EXPECT a highly enjoyable and lucrative career - being highly successful at a thing you love - is a lofty goal, but needs a backup plan. rarely happens.
Cool, but completely unrelated to the OP's post.
His kid is 14. A high-school freshman.
And he's only said that he's interested in history. For a 14 year old kid to express an interest in history I think portends good things. Better things than if he was just moping around interested in nothing except maybe gaming or something.
I'll repeat what I posted above. The analytical and writing skills serve well in business, law, and I'm sure other professions.
History was my favorite subject too. But I didn't give a ton of consideration to majoring in it in college.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RobertFisher
Getting good high school grades and taking part in extracurricular activities are a given. We are trying to do that. But in this day and age when the top kids are offering above-4.0 GPA, state championship of something, special achievements, I just think a winning application needs that something extra.
They don't seem to care or follow if it's academic or related to what they want to do when it comes to extracurricular stuff. If he likes sports, let him do sports. Music? let him play. Scouting? That's fine too.
Most kids change their major at least once and a huge amount of them enter undeclared.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RobertFisher
I haven't done much professionally with Physics; it also became a hobby of mine, especially astro-physics. For a couple of financial companies I worked for, they demanded proof of a college degree, and I had to present the original diploma. So I guess my non-finance degree still saw some use.
Having said that, there is a small cult in the financial space that believes some physical principles are intertwined with the laws of the stock market, and tries to use those principles to forecast financial market events...
A Physics degree is extremely marketable, even if it wasn't what you wanted to do. Financial institutions like them for their math/problem solving skills, Oil and Gas business will hire them in engineering related/type jobs, data/business analysts, etc, etc. Not unlike a math degree.
And he's only said that he's interested in history. For a 14 year old kid to express an interest in history I think portends good things. Better things than if he was just moping around interested in nothing except maybe gaming or something.
You can actually build a successful career in gaming, but that’s besides the point here.
If the kid is interested in history then he should try to cultivate those interests into useful skill sets. History, at an academic level, requires good reading, writing and analytical skills. However, since he’s only 14, it remains to be seen whether those interests are temporary or whether they are long lasting.
A story: When I was seven, I wanted to be a paleontologist because I read a book by Roy Chapman Andrews about discovering the first dinosaur eggs on an expedition to the Gobi Desert. I was interested in space and the sciences in general throughout grade school, and was a voracious reader of pretty much anything I could get my hands on. I even went through the dictionary, fascinated about the thousands of words I hadn't seen before, wanting to know their etymology.
In eighth grade, I woke up one night after one of my dictionary sessions and wrote my first poem. Throughout high school, I had a passion for writing and literature as well as a passion for the sciences. The only advice I got from my parents was: don't become a musician, it'll break your heart (my musician father), and you need to decide what you want to do before you go off to college (my mother).
I started college as a mathematics major, thinking I'd go into astrophysics. In my junior year, I switched majors to English Lit and Creative Writing and transferred to the University of Iowa where I participated in the undergraduate writers' workshop. I applied for the master's program and was accepted. I decided not to go right away because I was still confused about what to do. I ended up graduating with a major in English Lit and Creative Writing, minors in Math and French, and almost a third minor in Biology.
Between college and grad school, I looked at programs in creative writing, and also (for some reason that today escapes me) furniture making schools in North Carolina and Kentucky. I ended up doing graduate work in four different disciplines over the decades. I have an MS in Computer Science and an MA in Clinical Psych. Today, I'm semi retired doing web design work and retirement/career coaching on a part time basis.
My interest in literature and writing (and the arts in general) have lasted throughout my life. I had two full-time careers: software engineering/software development related, and in clinical counseling. They were great careers - but if you'd told me at the age of fourteen that's how my life would turn out, I wouldn't have believed you.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
